![]() ![]() While changes to the human body are to be expected as our species expands off-Earth, there is a way to do this science responsibly, Mason said. "It's not if we evolve it's when we evolve," he added. Genetically editing humans for space travel would likely be a part of natural changes to the human physiology that could occur after living on Mars for a number of years, Mason said. This wild concept was explored in a 2016 paper, and Mason and his team aim to build upon that research to see if, by using the DNA of ultra-resilient tardigrades, they could protect astronauts from the harmful effects of spaceflight. One way that scientists could alter future astronauts is through epigenetic engineering, which essentially means that they would "turn on or off" the expression of specific genes, Mason explainedĪlternatively, and even more strangely, these researchers are exploring how to combine the DNA of other species, namely tardigrades, with human cells to make them more resistant to the harmful effects of spaceflight, like radiation. "If we have another 20 years of pure discovery and mapping and functional validation of what we think we know, maybe by 20 years from now, I'm hoping we could be at the stage where we would be able to say we can make a human that could be better surviving on Mars."īut what does it mean to genetically engineer a person to better survive in space or on another planet? There are multiple possible approaches. "I don't have any plans of having engineered astronauts in the next one to two decades," Mason said. But Mason emphasized that there will likely be decades of research completed before this kind of science is applied to humans. ![]() However, the idea of tinkering with human genes is controversial. Theoretically, this type of technology could also be used to combat the effects of radiation on healthy cells during cancer treatments on Earth, Mason noted. If, for example, scientists could figure out a way to make human cells more resilient to the effects of radiation, astronauts could remain healthier for longer durations in space. ![]() One of the main health concerns with space travel is radiation exposure. However, new studies are investigating how tools such as gene editing could make humans more capable of traveling farther into space and even to planets such as Mars. While, Mason noted, future astronauts might be prescribed medicine or other tools to help to mitigate the effects which they've uncovered with this research. Related: Space Radiation Threat to Astronauts Explained (Infographic) Future astronauts and tardigrade DNA "Some of those changes, even though they're dramatic, maybe that's how the body needed to respond," Mason said. He noted that they might not even find it necessary to prescribe anything to alter the effects they've seen in astronauts like Scott Kelly. "I think we do what is normally done in science … We see something interesting let's try it in mice first," Mason said. But with such a small body of data (the twins study was just two people), scientists aren't ready to prescribe any specific treatment or preventative medicine to alter how humans genetically react to spaceflight. By studying, specifically, how certain genes are expressed during the different stages of spaceflight (including the intense return to Earth), these research efforts could support future efforts to mitigate the dangers of spaceflight, Mason said.įor instance, if further studies were to confirm that landing back on Earth were harmful to the human body, scientists could develop ways to prevent those detrimental effects.
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